


Transferred

by DystopianDuckie



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Established Relationship, slight references to trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DystopianDuckie/pseuds/DystopianDuckie
Summary: The Discovery is assigned to quick response missions, but that doesn't leave much for Detmer to do. As she's still trying to deal with everything that has happened to her, she also has to decide whether to temporarily transfer to a different ship in the fleet, leaving her family and her girlfriend behind on Discovey.
Relationships: Keyla Detmer/Joann Owosekun
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	Transferred

It was the end of another long, dull shift. If Keyla was being honest, there was never anything else these days. 

“You alright?” Joann asked, watching as she fiddled with her implant as they waited for the turbolift to arrive at their deck. 

“Yeah,” Keyla sighed, “yeah I’m fine.” Joann kept looking at her. “Really, I’m fine.” Honestly, you have one outburst and then everyone thinks you’re falling apart. 

_You are._

That voice inside of her. She pushed it down like usual. 

“You seemed a little spaced out today, that’s all,” Joann said. “Even when we jumped to Devan IV.”

“It’s not like I needed to do anything,” she said, leaving her implant alone and running her fingers through her hair. “Stamets jumped us in, you handled the shields. I didn’t even need to be there.” 

“I need you there,” Joann said quietly, stepping forward and closing the gap between them. Their lips met in a tender kiss and Keyla couldn’t help but smile. 

“You’d do just fine without me,” Keyla laughed when they pulled apart, “probably better, even, if you didn’t spend so much time checking me out.” 

Joann chuckled, kissing her again, “well they shouldn’t have hired such a cute pilot if they wanted me to focus on my station.” 

“I’ll be sure to bring that up with Saru in the next Bridge officer briefing.” 

“Yes, do that,” Joann said, “he might have to get you transferred.” 

* * *

“Lieutenant Detmer,” Saru said, putting a hand on the back of her chair, “could I have a word with you in the ready room?” 

“Of course, Captain,” Keyla replied, knowing it was more of a formality than anything. “Now, or at the end of the shift?” 

“It’s quiet at the moment,” Saru said, “why don’t we do it now?” His voice was calm and friendly, but Saru was often like that. It was hard to tell what he was going to say before he did. 

Keyla nodded, leaving her console as someone stepped in to take control.

“Please, take a seat,” he said when they reached the ready room. Saru sat down on the sofa, rather than his desk chair, and gestured for Keyla to join him. “I was asked to talk to you by Admiral Vance.” 

“What about, sir?” Keyla asked, her mind racing as she sat down. What could she possibly have done to attract the admiral’s attention? Other than her outburst, but she was dealing with that. Culber had been helping. And Joann, obviously. Things were slowly getting better. “I hope I haven’t done anything wrong.” 

“On the contrary,” Saru said, looking taken aback that she would think so, “the quality of your work speaks for itself. The admiral needs a pilot, and you’re the best they have.” 

Her mind started spinning. “I’m still getting used to all their tech, I can’t be the best pilot.” 

“The Admiral said that you had been running some simulations for other ships in the fleet,” Saru said. 

“Well, um, yes sir,” Keyla stumbled, “but only in my downtime. I like to practise, and it’s good to train on a variety of ships. It keeps your skills diverse.” Should she be explaining this to him? He wasn’t a pilot, but surely she didn’t need to justify herself. After all, he learnt 90 languages in his spare time. 

“Well, the Admiral was impressed,” Saru said, “and he requested you for a mission. It is voluntary,” he added, evidently seeing the panic that flashed across her features, “but he said to tell you that you were the best choice they had. As I’m sure you have realised by now the federation are low on resources in this time.” 

“What’s the mission, sir?” she asked. Better to get all of the facts before she rushed to any decisions. 

Breathe in. Breathe out. That’s what Culber had been teaching her. Push the rising panic down. 

“The Le Guin set off for Na ‘Seth five weeks ago to run a supply run,” Saru told her. 

“The Le Guin?” Keyla asked, “that’s… Captain Bandra’s ship, right?” 

“Indeed,” Saru answered. “The Admiral has just received word that their pilot was involved in an accident and is currently unfit for duty.”

“What happened?” Keyla asked, concerned. 

“There was an incident with some raiders,” Saru said. “I’m told those are somewhat common on that trade route. Normally the damage isn’t too bad, but this time the raiders got a lucky hit in. Some of the bridge crew were injured.” 

Her mind jumped back to a different time, explosions on the bridge and being thrown from her chair. Blood streaming down her face and pooling on the floor beside her. Her friends dead or dying. 

“Lieutenant?” Saru asked, his voice gentle but firm. 

“Sorry, Sir, carry on.” 

“We have been asked to jump to their current location, pick up some wounded, and supply them with a pilot for the journey home.” 

“How long would it take?” 

“The route usually takes two months, so around three weeks left,” he told her. “It’s not the most dangerous of missions, but evidently sometimes things do go wrong. Hence why they need a pilot who is familiar with evasive manoeuvres. 

“Aren’t all pilots familiar with evasive manoeuvres?” Keyla asked, wondering whether the standard of star fleet training had really degenerated that much in the 930 years they had missed. 

“To a point, yes,” Saru said, a twinkle in his eyes that suggested the hint of a laugh, “but you have to remember that ships of this size are not as common now. You have a lot more experience than most.” 

“Sounds like you want me to take the mission, Sir,” she said quietly.

Saru sighed, leaning back slightly. “My first priority is always to my crew,” he said sincerely, “but we are also part of a bigger organisation and we have the resources to help our fellow members.” 

“Would Discovery be okay while I was gone?” Keyla asked, trying to keep her mind focused on the work side of things for a moment. 

“Given the nature of our current missions, I think we would be okay,” he shot her a knowing look. Apparently, she hadn’t been doing as good a job at hiding her boredom for the last few weeks as she thought she had. “Obviously you would be missed, but this would be a good opportunity for you to fly again. I know it hasn’t been ideal.”

“It is what it is,” Keyla said, “the spore drive is a unique resource. I don’t blame them for using it as a quick response. But I would like to fly again.” 

“Which brings us to the other side of this conversation,” Saru said, his voice softening. “As your Captain and as your friend, I want to make sure that you are comfortable with this. You’ve been through a lot.” 

“Yeah,” Keyla sighed, letting some of her professionalism drop. “We both have. I won’t lie, I'm still adjusting to being here.”

“A perfectly natural response,” Saru reassured her. “I haven’t had details from Doctor Culber, but he has informed me of your treatment.” 

It stung a little to hear that he knew. But it wasn’t supposed to be a secret. It wasn’t a betrayal of trust. She had to keep reminding herself that it was okay to need that kind of help. Even cocky hot-shot pilots could use some therapy, maybe even more than most. 

“It’s been helping,” she admitted. “But being around the crew helps too.”

“You and Joann are close,” Saru mentioned, smiling knowingly. He only used first names when they were being personal, so Keyla thought it was okay to talk to him as a friend. Even if they were in uniform in the ready room. Lines always got blurred on longer missions. 

“Yeah,” Keyla smiled softly, “we have been for a while. Since Lorca was here.” 

“I’m happy for you,” Saru said, his voice genuine.

“You’re not going to quote fraternisation regulations at me and report me to the Admiral?” she asked - half joking, half worried. 

“I have to say I never saw the point of those rules,” Saru said, “although maybe don’t tell _that_ to the Admiral.”

Keyla nodded, chuckling. 

“They are there, in my understanding,” he continued, “to reprimand when relationships get messy and make it unfeasible to work together as a crew. I have no problem with people forming connections.” He paused for a moment. “How would this mission impact you and Joann, with that in mind?” 

Ah, there they were. The jackpot question. 

“It would be hard,” Keyla admitted, “not just to leave Jo, but everyone. Me and her, we’re a team. On duty and off.” 

Saru looked at her like he expected her to say more. 

“I would have to talk to her about it, Sir,” she said finally. “But on the whole you’re right. A change of scene and some more active duty would be a nice change, and a good opportunity to learn more about how star fleet ships operate now."

"Information which we would all find very helpful," Saru nodded. "But I want to emphasize that this isn't something you have to do if you aren't comfortable. There are other pilots who could step in if you don't want to."

"What happened to me being the best in the fleet, sir?" she teased. 

"Sometimes you have to settle for second best," he replied diplomatically. He was smiling though. 

"When do you need to know?" Keyla asked. With a mission like this, it would likely happen soon. They wouldn't want to leave a ship without a suitable pilot for any longer than they had to. 

"We jump there tomorrow," Saru said, almost apologetically. "I would need an answer by the start of alpha shift. That way we have time to inform and pick up another pilot if we need to."

"Of course Sir," Keyla nodded. "I'll have an answer for you by then."

"Then I'll let you get back to work," Saru said, standing up. 

"Aye, sir." 

They left the ready room together and Keyla headed back to her station. Joann shot her a questioning look as she sat down, but Keyla smiled at her reassuringly. 

"Later," she said, quietly so the rest of the room couldn't hear. 

Joann nodded, clearly still confused but willing to let it go for now. There were only a few hours left of this shift anyway. 

"Lieutenant Detmer, how about a spin round the block?" Saru said from the Captain's chair. 

"Aye Sir," Detmer said, smiling at the obvious attempt to give her something to do. 

She reached for her controls and set off. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This was meant to be a one-shot but here we are, can't promise when/if I will update but hopefully there will be some Detmer/Owo convos soon.


End file.
